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Exotic primary weapons

Weapon ornaments

Part 1 – Primary exotic weapons

Some legends live forever. Others are overwritten – reshaped by the sheer will of those who believe that any ordeal can be conquered, any foe vanquished, any god cast down.

Welcome back guardians, in the recent Age of Triumph, Weekly Rituals Bungie livestream, 7 new exotic weapon ornaments were revealed… well sort of. I thought that this would be a great time to cover all the Lore surrounding weapon ornaments. This video is Part 1 of a two-part series. This video will just cover all exotic primary weapons that have an ornament. I will provide brief description of the weapon lore (which sometimes is a lot of information, and other times very little) and then I can explain the significance of the ornament (which sometimes is very significant and other times almost insignificant). Part Two will cover special weapons and heavy weapons and if you would like a part three that covers all remaining exotic weapons (i.e. weapons that do not have ornaments), I will gladly do that too. Be sure to show your support on this video.

I am also going to mention some bonus Lore that I spotted during the livestream, the ships, “Needle and Thread” and also the ship “Order Theory”, which I will mention very shortly. To help you navigate this video I will leave a contents page on screen now and in the description, so you can see the time when I speak about each exotic weapon and you can skip ahead to your favourite exotic weapon if you like. This is myelin games and I hope you enjoy this latest destiny lore episode.

Let’s start with some bonus lore from the Livestream. One of the ships on the livestream was called, Needle and thread. The word Needle occurs a number of times in the grimoire cards, however the most interesting reference to Needle is in the Vault of Glass grimoire card. The card reads,

“In the Vault time frays and a needle moves through it. The needle is the will of Atheon. I do not know the name of the shape that comes after the needle.”

So Needle represents the will of Atheon and this card has lead many to believe that Atheon was not the final boss in the Vault of Glass, as the card hints at something after Aethon. This new ship may in fact be a subtle reference to this theory; what comes after a Needle? well when you are stitching or sowing, thread comes after the needle. The item description of Needle and thread reads,

“a stitch in time.”

So if we put all of this together, Aethon, the needle, and whatever follows Aethon, i.e. the thread, have stitched time back together. This may in fact be a hint to why the Vault of Glass is returning. I do not think that we will get a full lore description of why the Vault of Glass/aethon has returned, however the explanation could be something simple as this. Very similar to when Omnigul returned and there was one line in mission that said, Omnigul un-did her death.

You likely also noticed another ship during the Livestream called “Order Theory” which reads, “a profound wisdom uttered in the cold between stars”. The Cold Between Stars is the name for the Black Spindle ornament, that makes Black Spindle look like a Taken weapon. Oryx gained the power to take from the killing the worm god Akka and when he would “take” beings, he would use the power of the Deep to swallow them into wound and they would return taken. We don’t know where exactly Oryx converts his subjects to Taken, however Ikora Rey gives an account in The Taken grimoire card, it reads,

“The process is simple: an aperture opens like a jaw, and swallows a living thing. It passes into – another place. Later it returns.”

Whilst we don’t know where this place is, considering the Black Spindle ornament is called the Cold between stars and it makes the Spindle look Taken, the Cold between stars may be a reference to this place, where subjects converted to Taken.

So… the new ship, Order Theory refers to the “profound wisdom uttered in the cold between stars”. Who or what is this profound wisdom in this space where subjects are taken? Very much like how the Needle and Thread hints at the return of Atheon, this likely hints at the return of Oryx, as we see the King’s Fall raid return.

Alternatively, Toland is documented as flying between the stars in the Hive Overwold, so this profound wisdom between the stars may also be a reference to Toland the shattered.

Ok so that is a little bit of bonus lore out of the way, lets move onto the lore of exotic weapon primaries which have ornaments, starting from top left. And working our way across and down.

Starting with Zhalo Supercell. This weapon has very little lore. The grimoire suggests that it was created by multiple Guardians outside of the City’s safety, who used the ability to control the light to create it. The card reads,

“When you’re out beyond the Wall, sometimes you have to take what you can find, and make it work. Though its original makers and their no-doubt-desperate straits are lost to history, the ZhaloSupercell remains a striking example of what a Guardian can do with some outdated tech, a deep command of fundamental Light, and a spark of inspiration.

Unfortunately, the ornaments “Not a toy” and “Shock Hazard” don’t appear to add anymore insight to the Lore of this weapon. Don’t worry a lot of the ornaments do, but for Zhalo supercell I cant see a connection here.

Fabian Strategy no ornaments.

Hard Light no ornaments.

The next weapon is Suros Regime. The new ornament for Suros Regime is called Basilisk’s Glory. A Basilisk has a number of different descriptions; however it is considered to be the King of serpents, it also has the power to cause death with a single glance. The description of a Basilisk is disputed with some aligning it with a cockatrice, which is a two-legged dragon or serpent like creature with a rooster’s head. This description seems to suit Suro’s design, with the dragon like image. Hence, the symbolism of the new Ornament Basilisk’s Glory is, once glance from a Suros weapon and your dead.

From a general lore point of view, Suros was one of the major weapon foundries during the Golden age and suros regime was re-created using Golden age schematics, however one of the main things that limited production was smartmatter.

Monte Carlo. This has very very limited lore, with the grimoire card explaining how this weapon was a fashion statement and showpiece. The ornaments reinforce the fancy-ness of this weapon with “Royal Flush”, but also hint at something somewhat more intriguing, which is “Superspy”. This gives me a very James Bond kind of impression; this is the weapon of a very classy spy.

Yes, I am a super scrub and never bothered getting the first curse. No ornaments anyway. However I did make an entire video on the First curse.

Boolean Gemini, no ornaments.

Touch of Malice. During the Live stream it was revealed that Touch of Malice will be getting a new ornament called,

“Settled Score”.

Essentially this weapon is created by Eris Morn which you the Guardian request after collecting every calcified fragment. The calcified fragments tell the story of Oryx in the Books of Sorrow. However, the calcified fragments was a strategy used by Oryx in the event of his defeat, Oryx explains that anyone to collect these fragment, which involves killing all of his command plus Oryx himself, would come to understand him. To make this weapon it is somewhat implied that you are just as bad as Oryx and to wield the weapon, you potential carry on Oryx’s work. Have a listen to the final calcified fragment grimoire card;

“I will prepare a book, which is a map to a weapon. And my vanquisher will read that book, seeking the weapon, and they will come to understand me, where I have been and where I was going. And then they will take up my weapon, and they will use it, they will use that weapon, which is all that I am.

And armed thus with my past, and my future, and my present (which is a weapon, a weapon that takes whatever is available, a weapon bound to malice), they will mantle me, Oryx, the Taken King.

The implication here, is that we are continuing Oryx’s work by using Touch of Malice. However, Eris actually views the weapon in a slightly different way, Eris believes that this weapon reflects back the pain and suffering upon the Hive, it is using the Hive power against them, not necessarily continuing Oryx’s work, the item description of Touch of Malice reads,

“let them feel every lash, every curse, every touch of malice that they first dealt to me.”

The new ornament, Settled Score, could have a double meaning, firstly, it may in fact be referencing that Eris Morn has settled her score, remember that she lost her whole fireteam during her first attempt to take down Crota and now Touch of Malice allows all the pain and suffering to be reflected back on Hive. Alternatively, it may hint at Guardians carrying out the work of Oryx, we have killed him, yet, we are still carrying out his work by killing everything with Touch of Malice. Oryx has settled the score, he has had the last laugh. Thirdly, it may be more directly hinting at the return of Oryx in King’s Fall, and Oryx has returned some how to the settle the score.

Jade Rabbit and Tlhaloc, no ornaments.

Mida Multi-tool. Unfortunately, very little lore surrounding this weapon. The ornaments Special Ops and Artic survivalist, coupled with all the different applications listed in the item description, indicates that it is a versatile tool used by Guardians beyond the wall. It is implied that these Guardians engage in Special Operations, survivalist mission, likely over a long duration, and so they need a weapon with multiple functions, a weapon that is more than a weapon, it is a multi-tool.

Thorn!! An insane amount of Lore about Thorn and the Last Word. Thorn the Hand Cannon of Dredgen Yor, not the only Dredgen or Dark Guardian by the way, hi identity still unknown, however more recent cards point towards Rezyl Azzir. That is a whole separate video, link in the description.

However, two main theories exist about the creation of the hand cannon itself, the first is that the Hand canon was originally called Rose and changed into Thorn, which coincided with the Guardian becoming corrupted and becoming Dredgen Yor. The second is that Thorn was always Thorn, the Guardian found Thorn already corrupted, a weapon changed by Hive magic, however he did not see the weapon for what it truly was until he was completely corrupted, i.e. it was more about perspective, and the hand cannon rose never really existed. These ornaments, Rose of Acid and Rose of Corruption I think add a tad more evidence to the perspective theory, i.e. Rose and Thorn are one in the same weapon.

Ace of Spades missing, no ornaments there.

Moving onto the Last Word. Obviously, like Thorn, a tone of lore on this weapon. The story of the Last Word ends with Shin Malphur avenging his master, Jaren Ward, with a showdown against Dredgen Yor at Dwindlers Ridge. Shin kills Dredgen yor with his Golden Gun. The ornaments “Sequel” may imply that the story of Shin Malphur is not yet complete i.e. a sequel is yet to come. Or considering how un-kept that weapon looks with this ornament, it may just indicate that the events between Shin Malphur and Dredge Yor took place a long time ago, and the weapon now looks like this, it’s current state, completely run down, an artifact from a story long ago.

The second ornament is almost the opposite, if the Sequel ornament depicts what the weapon may look like now, I believe the Addendum ornament depicts what it looked like back then. The reason for that is the inclusion of the Star on the Handle, this is very wild west like, sheriff like, and the story of Jaren Ward is essentially that of space cowboys. Addendum is another word for Appendix, i.e. additional material to compliment the story, this is the appendix to the Jaren Ward story, it is saying, this is what the gun looked like back in the lawless days of palamon.

Hawkmoon…. Oh the Hawkmoon. I get a lot of requests for this weapon, however, I have not been able to find anything of real substance for this weapon. The grimoire card simply indicates that it is a true gunslingers weapon, the item description describes you as a bird of prey, i.e. a hawk, setting your talons upon the Darkness.

The only thing that comes close to a Hawk in the grimoire cards is a race known as the Taishibethi, they are in fact Ravens and Oryx destroys them and coverts their leader to Taken.

Moon is quite often associated with the Hive, not only our Moon, but the Books of Sorrows also refer to other Moons, including war-moons, however there is no real connection that I can see between this weapon and the Hive.

The ornament Carrion, fits with the bird of prey theme, as Carrion is “the decaying flesh of dead animals.” Interestingly, the blood pattern mark on the weapon is very similar to Red Death and does seem to indicate that the weapon was used to kill in close quarters. It definitely has an execution type of feel to it.

The second ornament, Moonglow, once again, no idea, however interestingly, we can see the Spade symbol on the handle, which is more often associated with Cayde-6. Any theories are greatly welcomes.

No time to explain, no ornaments.

Bad Juju . This weapon has some fantastic lore which I recently covered. It’s original creator is Toland the shattered. The ornament Dragonsbane is interesting, as Bane is often used to describe characters or things that are within conflict with each other, Crota’s Bane representing Eris, or Ironsbane representing SIVA. So Dragonsbane may indicate that Toland the Shattered had an encounter with the Ahamkara. The ornament Hoodoom, suits the theme of Bad Juju, and that is the hive witchcraft theme, that this weapon was influenced by Hive magic. Which is why some consider this weapon to be a Weapon Of Sorrow, however that is still heavily debated.

Red death. As the item description reads this weapon is so dangerous that the Vanguard recommend that it be destroyed on sight. It’s prototype was Red Spectre. The grimoire card refers to it as a guardian Killer. This weapon restores your health and if you have seen my video about how guardians are killed, I would argue that this weapon can drain the light of your enemies. I have never considered this weapon as a weapon of sorrow because it is missing the essential element of Hive sorcery… however the ornaments White Witch and Steel Witch may imply Hive influence. Within the grimoire cards, the pHive have Witches, for example Rezyl Azzir is corrupted by a Witch within the hellmouth. Also within the grimoire cards, the Techeuns are referred to as witches, i.e. tech-witches. The Red Death is still very mysterious to me, it has these elements of corruption and being a guardian killer, it has an auto rifle frame, yet is a pulse rifle, which you will know mirrors Bad Juju, which is a scout rifle frame but is a pulse rifle… so there are a number of things that point in the direction of being corrupted by Hive magic somehow, yet nothing really conclusive, in fact the ornaments White Witch and Steel Witch is the only real weak link to the Hive.

Moving onto the Khvostov 7G-0X. I actually think this weapon has some deep lore that I have overlooked in the past and I may have to make a whole separate video for this weapon, however this is what I have found so far. The first ornament is “Bureau of Aeronautics”, which is in fact a reference to the cosmodrome. I believe the symbol seen here with the writing stands for “Russian Federal Bureau of Aeronautics”.

I am not too sure about how the Bureau of Aeronautics relates to the weapon itself, however the second ornament is very interesting. It is the “Last Warmind”. The Last Warmind that we know, is Rasputin.

Now here is where it gets even more interesting. Khvostov is actually a real person, named Aleksey Nikolayevich Khvostov who lived 1872 to 1918, he was a Russian politician who among other things tried to assassinate someone called Rasputin. So now we have a number of puzzle pieces, Russian Federal Bureau of Aeronautics, a gent named Khvostov who tried to assassinate Rasputin and an ornament named the Last Warmind. I have not come to any conclusions yet to how this weapon is linked to Rasputin, there are several grimoire cards for this exotic weapon which document a conversation between two Russians, however I am still looking into those cards. So stay tuned for an updated video as I try to piece this together.

No land beyond, which can be equipped in your primary slot. Not a huge amount of lore surrounding this weapon. The grimoire card starts that it can be found in Old Russia and that it may predate the Golden Age, used to liberate the old Earth Nation from a cycle of war. The new ornament, Undiscovered country, at this point does not seem to provide any further clues to the history of this weapon.

Lets move onto the year one weapons returning.

Necrochasm. The bungie livestream revealed a new ornament named, Devourer of Moons. The Necrochasm is confirmed as a Weapon of Sorrow via its Grimoire card and this grimoire is the best description of a weapon of sorrow that we have. Three of the main elements of a weapon of sorrow can be interpreted from this card, firstly, weapons of sorrows are Guardian weapons that have been altered by the Hive, second, using a weapon of sorrow influences the wielder, in this case Necrochasm feeds on the owner’s aggression and lastly Weapons of Sorrow are almost alive and hungry feeding off light or death. Which is very symbolic of the Hive having to feed their worms. If you remember back to how you had to obtain Necrochasm when it was first released, you had to obtain the Husk of the Pit, which was a random common drop from the Blades of Crota on Earth or the moon, you then had to upgrade Husk of the Pit to Eidolon Ally using an embalming orb obtained from Eris Morn, then Eidolon Ally would upgrade to Necrochasm once you had obtained the Crux of Crota, from defeating Crota on hard in Crota’s End Raid.

So what does the new ornament mean, Devourer of Moons. Devour is a commonly used word by the Hive in the Books of Sorrow, often a reference to consuming the Light. Verse 5:3 of the books of sorrows, says

“The Traveler. We chase it and we will devour it.”

The grimoire card for the Hive also reinforce the devouring of the light saying,

“all light must be devoured so Darkness can reclaim the universe.”

However, devour is not just a reference to consuming the Light but often used in relationship to symbiotic bond the Hive have with their worms and the insatiable hungry. Oryx has to continue to conquer and devour in order to feed his worm, so that his worm does not devour him. The Court of Oryx grimoire card describes Oryx’s tithing system, which has lesser Hive send him “energy” from killing to feed Oryx’s worm, it reads.

“Who take away the weakness from the weak, whose violence is tithed to Oryx, so that he may devour without being devoured.”

Similarly in Verse 3:4 of the books of sorrow, the word devour is associated with this symbiotic bond with the worms, it reads,

“But as we wield this might, our worm’s hunger expands. If we fail to feed it, it will devour us from within.”

So, due to the nature of the worms, and consequently the nature of Qryx’s conquest, as he becomes stronger he needs to devour more, Oryx’s history is described as devouring worlds The Kranox, The Graven card reads,

“Kranox, the Graven is said to be the Keeper of the World’s Grave, a vast repository chronicling the Hive’s history of interstellar conquests. Every world they have devoured.”

So the new ornament “Devourer of moons” I believe is a reference to the insatiable hungry of the Hive, and potential how this weapon is also hungry, hungry to feed on the light, like a true Weapon of Sorrow. The reason why it is Devourer of moons, not devourer of worlds, is a reference to when Necrochasm was first created on the moon, the Necrochasm grimoire card reads,

“It is said the necrochasm was born in the twilight after Crota’s Sword first cracked the Moon.”

Very interesting weapon lore wise, and I hope for a fantastic ornament.

Last, but of course not least from the exotic primary list, the Vex Mythoclast. Unfortunately, the Vex Mythoclast has very little lore or more that it is very cryptic. It is obtained from defeating Aethon in the vault of glass. I am actually going to read to you the whole Vex mythoclast grimoire card, and hopefully someone from this audience has some better theories than me.

Vex Mythoclast

…a causal loop within the weapon’s mechanism, suggesting that the firing process somehow binds space and time into…

Some legends live forever. Others are overwritten – reshaped by the sheer will of those who believe that any ordeal can be conquered, any foe vanquished, any god cast down.

The Mythoclast is a Vex instrument from some far-flung corner of time and space, mysteriously fit for human hands. Its origins, mechanism of action, and ultimate purpose remain unknown. Perhaps it will reveal itself to you, in time…

Some of the most interesting aspects of this weapon are; “the firing process somehow binds space and time into…” The grimoire also says, it is a Vex instrument, however mysteriously fits humans hands. The weapon fitting human hands could have some big implications, essentially maybe someone has created this weapon and sent it through time for Guardians, very similar to the Stranger’s Rifle. But at this point not much is known.

The word Mythoclast, may translate to destroyer of Myths, very similar to the Iconoclast ornament of the shotgun Invective which means “attack or criticize cherished believes or institutions” or destroyer of images used in religious worships”. Iconoclast is likely associated with the Hive, which I will cover in part two.

The reason why it is called Mythoclast, destroyer of myths may relate to the naming structure of the Vex, Goblin, Hobgoblin, Minotaur, Harpy and Hydra, all things from mythology. Hence, Mythoclast, destroyer of myth, really means destroyer of the Vex. I cannot take credit for this interpretation, I saw this on Bungie’s forums by a user named “jbubbarb”.

The new ornament is called “Chornoshot”. The definition of Chrono means, relating to time. So this ornament translates to Time Shot, or maybe “a shot from time.” This ornament suits the theme of the weapon, considering its firing process binds space and time. This ability to combine space and time may explain why the weapon is a fusion rifle, yet can fire like a fully automatic weapon. The exotic perk is called “Timeless mythoclast”, so somehow the weapon manipulates time, eliminating the charge time normally associated with fusion rifles and allowing you to fire the weapon as if fully automatic weapon.

That concludes this latest destiny lore episode, if you like to support the channel, leave the word “mythoclast”, to support the hype for the return of the Vex Mythoclast, but also acknowledge that this weapon will be used to destroy the Vex!